Lowery’s Season of Triumphs, Trouble : Loyola’s Senior Guard Says He Wants to Put Gleam Back Into Dream Season

Terrell Lowery’s smooth, graceful moves on the basketball court are a constant reminder of his athletic ability. Guard him closely and he can drive to the basket. Give him room and he can make a three-point shot. Get careless with the ball and he can steal it.

Allow Lowery to play his game and he can beat you.

The Loyola Marymount guard is the nation’s fourth-leading scorer with a 27.1 average--the second consecutive year he has ranked in the top five--and he has scored 30 or more points in nine of his 15 games. He was named the West Coast Conference player of the week after averaging 28.5 points and making 20 of 21 free throws in home games against St. Mary’s and the University of San Francisco last weekend.

A dream season, right?

Not exactly.

For one thing, Loyola (8-9) is tied for last place in the conference with San Francisco and Portland at 1-4. Then there is Lowery’s game, which has wavered between brilliance and inefficiency. He is shooting a poor 43% from the field, 37.5% from three-point range and has more turnovers (72) than assists (71).

Lowery has also had problems seeing eye-to-eye with Coach Jay Hillock, and not only because the 6-foot-3 Lowery towers over the 5-8 Hillock. The two reportedly had words during a Jan. 10 practice, resulting in Hillock suspending Lowery for the conference opener against Pepperdine.

Touted as a preseason All-American, Lowery has struggled in some respects.

On the other hand, he says the adversity has helped him mature and grow.

“It’s been difficult in one aspect,� he said. “And I think it has helped me mentally and prepared me for rules I might have to live by later in life.

“I have to deal with things not coming as easy as they normally would for Terrell. I’m having to deal with my shot not falling. Finally I’m having to deal with getting double-teamed and triple-teamed. Things are not coming as easy as they did in the past for me.�

But, as he points out, that is not necessarily a bad thing.

“I think in the long run it will give me wisdom,� he said.

Exactly what Lowery learned from his reported run-in with Hillock that resulted in his one-game suspension is unclear. Instead of accompanying Loyola to Malibu for its game with Pepperdine, Lowery stayed at his apartment in Playa del Rey and watched the game later that night on tape-delay.

The Lions put up a fight without their senior leader but finally succumbed to the Waves, 94-84.

“It was difficult for me to stay home because I wanted to play in that game,� Lowery said. “But I didn’t want to cause a commotion with the media. I figured if I stayed away it would create less of a headache for me and the team.�

Neither Lowery nor Hillock will discuss details of Lowery’s suspension, other than to say it was for disciplinary reasons.

“Things of that sort are going to happen throughout practices and games,� Lowery said. “It was an unfortunate thing for me and for the team.�

Lowery makes no secret that he has had trouble adjusting to the coaching philosophy of Hillock, who succeeded Paul Westhead after the 1989-90 season. Lowery said Hillock demands more control of his players than Westhead did.

“Communication is real important with Jay,� Lowery said. “With Paul, it wasn’t. Coach Westhead was more of a guy who would say, ‘Do whatever comes to you.’ He believed in your judgment. If you do it well, fine. If you don’t do it well, then, hey, you might not play. He had kind of a pro attitude. He let you do what you wanted to do.�

Lowery says Hillock confines his players to specific roles and becomes upset if they stray from their duties and make mistakes.

“Sometimes I think the way he coaches doesn’t give everybody the confidence they need to be a basketball player,� Lowery said. “It’s difficult because you go from one coach (Westhead), the person you expected to play for, and then there’s a change and you have to learn a new philosophy.

“I think the whole team has had a difficult time adjusting to that. I think that it will be like that until all of Westhead’s (recruits) are gone. There’s always going to be a little resistance.�

In Hillock’s defense, Lowery acknowledged that this season’s team does not have the talent of the 1989-90 squad that featured Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers, and that is probably one of the reasons Hillock has tightened the reins on Loyola’s freewheeling, run-and-gun style.

“There are a lot of things that we used to overcome with the talent that we had back then,� said Lowery, referring to the team that reached the NCAA West Regional final after Gathers’ death in the conference tournament. “We could score points in bunches with no problem.�

Loyola can still score points in bunches, but not consistently. One of the problems has been Lowery’s poor outside shooting.

“We want him to take it to the basket, because he’s very good at that,� Hillock said earlier this season. “We want to get him back in rhythm and feeling good about his game.�

Lowery’s shooting has improved in recent weeks--he made 20 of 36 field goals in back-to-back games against Gonzaga and St. Mary’s--but he was only six of 15 in a 94-89 loss to San Francisco on Saturday night.

Part of the problem is that Lowery has not received much scoring support on a team that needs to score a lot of points to be successful. After Lowery, the Lions’ highest scorer is forward Rahim Harris at 10.7.

“There is a lot of pressure on (Lowery) to do well,� Hillock said. “I think he overestimates what he’s not doing and underestimates what he’s doing. He’s a big-time scorer.�

More than individual problems, though, Lowery has been concerned with the problems of Loyola, which can’t seem to win a close game. Five of the Lions’ nine losses have been by five points or less.

Lowery said Loyola needs to sweep its conference games at San Francisco tonight and St. Mary’s on Saturday night to regain its confidence. It will be a homecoming for Lowery, who is from Oakland.

“Loyola isn’t used to losing by one or two points, and that’s what we’ve had to deal with this year,� he said. “It’s hard coping when you lose at the buzzer, or when one turnover, one rebound or one missed shot can determine whether you win a game.�

As Loyola showed last season, however, it’s never too late. After starting conference play 0-5, the Lions rebounded to win their last nine games before being upset by San Francisco in the first round of the conference tournament.

Lowery believes this year’s team is capable of a similar turnaround.

“I think the sky’s the limit for this team,� he said. “I think we can come back and have a winning streak of 10, 11 games. I believe it’s within our powers and we can do it. If we can jell together, we can make it happen. If we want it bad enough, we’ll get it.�

Lowery is unsure what sport he wants to pursue after college. He plans to graduate from Loyola this spring, after which he will decide between careers in basketball and baseball.

He joined Loyola’s baseball team for the first time halfway through last season, hitting safely in his first four games to earn the starting right-field position. He finished the season batting .407 with two home runs and 25 runs batted in 31 games to earn all-conference honorable mention honors.

Hailed by Baseball America as “the best athlete in the upcoming draft,� Lowery was taken in the second round by the Texas Rangers in the June amateur draft. He played with the Butte Copper Kings of the Rockie Pioneer League in Montana last summer, batting .299 with three home runs, 33 RBIs and 23 stolen bases in 54 games.

Most expect Lowery to give baseball a serious look, but he said he would like to explore his chances of making an NBA roster.

“I don’t know what lies in store for Terrell,� he said. “I just want to be as productive as I can. Right now my productivity is on the basketball court, because baseball is not here yet. I’ll do as much as I can in basketball to help my chances for an NBA career.

“Who knows what’s going to happen?�

With Lowery’s athletic ability, you never can be sure.